Marriott Columbus OSU

Our stay at the Marriott Columbus OSU was phenomenal! As a visiting team bus driver it was beyond appreciated the way in which Lisa and her team took such great care of our drivers. Professionalism at its finest. The rooms, cleanliness, and everything else you expect from a hotel were all top notch.

I am an active-duty service member. I have served on active duty for over 14 years and am currently a Blackhawk helicopter pilot. Naturally, my job requires that I travel away from my family frequently. This includes a regular rotation during the months of January and February each year to train in better weather, away from the rough winter weather in northern New York. As such, in January 2023 my company was scheduled to travel west to Fort Irwin, California for training. As the company Defense Travel System representative, it is my additional duty to ensure that the soldiers participating in this training have lodging accommodations along our route and that they are properly reimbursed by the Army for that travel once the training is completed and upon our return to Fort Drum. This particular trip included multiple aircraft carrying 20+ soldiers. Prior to travel, I contact multiple hotels along our intended flight path to set up accommodations in advance. One of the hotels that I contacted was the Marriott Columbus OSU Hotel in Columbus, Ohio. My contact was Angela Diep, the Sales Manager. I informed her during our original discussion during the week of 15 January 2023 that I was with a military group traveling on orders for training, and that we would need 28 rooms for our stay on 23 January 2023. She asked me to sign a contract and pass along my Government Travel Card information to book the stay, which I did. I remained in contact with Angela as our cross-country travel began because it was looking as though we may have to change the date of our arrival or our route altogether due to unforeseen poor weather conditions that we would not be able to fly in, and, consequently, that would delay our trip. My company was on a tight timeline with which we had to work within to arrive at Fort Irwin. Adjustments on these types of trips happen frequently due to unforeseen poor weather conditions, mechanical issues with an aircraft, etc. The decision was made not to travel through Ohio, but instead to travel along a more southern route instead to avoid the inclement weather. I informed Angela of this decision. Despite other detours and weather delays, my company did make it to Fort Irwin and we returned to Fort Drum upon the completion of our training several weeks later. At this point, as mentioned previously, it was my responsibility to file and submit paperwork to ensure that all soldiers that participated in the training would be properly reimbursed for it from the Army. This included contacting Angela to discuss reimbursing me for the 28 rooms that we did not utilize due to our detour. Despite speaking with Angela, and several other representatives from Marriott, they would not reimburse me the charges- a total of $3,870.45- which were charged to my personal Government Travel Card. I have spoken with base Defense Trial Services, as well as base Legal Assistance and am still pursuing multiple avenues in an attempt to reach a better resolution- one where I am not liable for 28 unused hotel rooms. At this point, I am reaching out to social media and the internet to bring this issue to light. I would like to be reimbursed for the 28 unused rooms. Additionally, I'd like confirmation that those rooms were not rebooked for the night, allowing the hotel to double-dip while I was already charged for them. I do not recommend any military or large group consider this hotel for their travels.